Programs & Degrees Available at Michigan State University
Michigan State University appears in our ranking of 50 Great Affordable Colleges in the Midwest.
Michigan State University offers more than 200 programs of study within its 17 degree-granting colleges. Students can take advantage of 275 education abroad programs while they’re enrolled for classes, as well as participate in some of the world-class research projects that are currently active at the university. The university shares that thousands of research projects take place each year.
One of the university’s greatest strengths is its selection of graduate programs that include highly-regarded programs in African history, organizational psychology, elementary education, human medicine, and rehabilitation counseling. Other sought-after programs include those in supply chain & logistics, veterinary medicine, nuclear physics, osteopathic medicine, educational psychology, and criminology.
Business, marketing, and management are the most popular areas of study at Michigan State University. Within the Broad College of Business, students can focus on accounting, accounting analytics, business research, finance, food service business management, healthcare management, or hospitality business. Additional majors are offered in human resource management, logistics, marketing, management, information technology management, and many other areas.
Other popular areas of study at Michigan State University are journalism and communications, which are offered within the College of Communication Arts. Some of the available areas of study include advertising, communication, digital media, health & risk communication, public relations, journalism, and media analytics. Programs like journalism are offered at the undergraduate and master’s level, as well as in a certificate format.
Within the College of Natural Science, many students choose to major in biology and the biological sciences. Some of the areas of focus include cellular and molecular biology, biomedical laboratory operations, biochemistry, and molecular biology, and an interdepartmental program in biological science. Studying biology is also possible at many levels, from undergraduate to doctoral.
Students have access to many online and off-campus programs on many subjects, and some of these programs are designed as hybrid programs that require some participation on campus and others are designed as fully-online programs. Students can enroll in several degree programs at the graduate level, as well as various certificate programs. Some of the program topics available include applied behavior analysis, healthcare management, integrative pharmacology, and mechanical engineering.
Certificate programs include agricultural operations, educational technology, neuroscience and the law, safety pharmacology, and serious game design & research. For off-campus options, degrees include a Master of Arts in Educational Technology, a Master of Social Work, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Physics, as well as several other areas.
One of the unique facets of academic life at Michigan State University is the personal enrichment and non-credit options available to students who want to enroll in single classes during the evening. Alumni can take classes in continuing education, as well as participate in several personal enrichment classes when they live in the Lansing area.
About Michigan State University
Michigan State University was founded in the mid-19th century as part of the Morrill Act. Although the university was at first only designed for agricultural education, it would expand to include female enrollment and a variety of non-agricultural subjects for study. The public university is a sea-grant and a land-grant institution with more than 50,000 students enrolled.
The university counts more than a half million living alumni and also boasts pioneering research in areas like packaging, supply chain management, communication sciences, and hospitality business. The school’s official colors are green and white, and the sports teams play as the Spartans in NCAA Division I games in the Big Ten Conference. The large, suburban campus in East Lansing covers an amazing 10,000 acres.
Michigan State University Accreditation Details
Regional accreditation for Michigan State University comes from the Higher Learning Commission. The university is also a member of the Association of American Universities, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and the American Council on Education. The university also counts membership with the Council of Learned Societies, the Council of Graduate Schools, and the Association of American Universities.
Academic programs that have gained programmatic accreditation include the doctoral program in doctoral psychology, which has gained accreditation from the American Psychological Association, Commission on Accreditation and the veterinary program, which has earned accreditation from the American Veterinary Medical Association, Council on Education. The Commission on English Language Program Accreditation has accredited the English Language Center.
Michigan State University Application Requirements
First-year applicants to Michigan State University who have never applied to college must submit transcripts from high school and standardized test scores from the SAT and ACT. The university encourages students to enroll in Advanced Placement and honors classes when possible. Applicants are graded on high school academic performance, class rank, standardized test results, and the diversity of the student’s life and school experience.
Students who want to enroll in graduate school at Michigan State University must check out the admissions process for their intended program. Graduate programs have different deadlines and admissions procedures of which applicants must be aware when they send in transcripts and standardized test results. The fee for graduate applications is $65, and students can apply to two different majors at the same time.
Tuition and Financial Aid
In-state freshmen will pay $14,522 per semester for classes when they enroll in 12 to 18 credits a semester. Room and board charges for a double-occupancy room with a silver level meal plan is $10,322. The total expected cost of enrollment for two semesters is $24,844 per year. For students who aren’t residents of Michigan, the charge for full-time tuition is $39,827, and room and board charges are the same as those charged to in-state students.
For graduate students, the cost of attendance is $17,436 per academic year for in-state students and $34,260 for out-of-state students. On-campus room and board and a meal plan add $12,934 to the total. Students may be responsible for other fees for laboratory time and other projects when they enroll for classes.
Students who submit a FAFSA form will receive a notice of their financial aid award from the Office of Financial Aid that may include a combination of loans, scholarships, and grants. Need-based aid may be awarded in the form of Pell Grants, and scholarship aid may be offered to students with high academic achievement. Scholarships a student may apply for when they attend Michigan State University include the Alumni Distinguished Scholarship and the Honors Excellence Scholarship.